Zen

2122009

Today, we had another successful run through the narrows into the east lobe of Lake Bonney with 4 km traverse, 8 sonde drops and bathymetry coverage of 30% of the lake. Ho-hum. I’m going to talk about Zen.

The Zen Garden, that is. Behind the ridge above Lake Bonney Camp, about half-way up the side of the valley, is a wide shelf covered with the cinders from a small cone further up the mountainside, undisturbed for millions of years by water or ice. Only the howling Antarctic winds have come through and carved amazing shaped out of the larger boulders which lie strewn about on the bed of small reddish pumice pebbles. It truly bears an uncanny resemblance to a manicured Japanese sculpture garden, and last Saturday, when we celebrated Thanksgiving, it became the goal of a small hike I took in the afternoon. It was probably the most unforgettable place I’ve ever been.

The high shelf holding the Zen Garden. The cinder cone on the side of the mountain to the right of the Sollas Glacier is the source of the reddish pebble field covering the plain below. The boulders are chunks of the surrounding bedrock.

A typical view in the Zen Garden.

I had the best time running around from rock to rock. This one rested just so, that one had ridiculous holes carved through it, the view behind that one was stunning. Each was better than the next.

The fragile shapes left by the carving of the wind are completely unbelievable. This was once a four-foot diameter boulder. The wispy shell is all that remains.